Heidelberg to Emphasize Depth and Flexibility of Sheetfed Portfolio at GRAPH EXPO

KENNESAW, GA—September 2, 2011—Commercial printers eager to improve their quality, serve their customers better, and enlarge their profit margins will find much to appreciate in Heidelberg’s extensive sheetfed portfolio.

Representing state-of-the-art conventional production in the Heidelberg booth (#1200) at GRAPH EXPO will be a five-color-plus-coater Speedmaster SM 74 featuring Prinect Axis Control and the 40″ Wallscreen display; and a five-color-plus-coater Speedmaster SM 52 with Anicolor zoneless inking system offering the highest print quality and a reduction in makeready and waste.

For the first time this year, however, the Speedmasters will be linked with a VUTEk GS3200 digital grand-format inkjet device and Ricoh Pro C901 Graph Arts Edition press in a live, color-managed workflow used to print materials for a simulated advertising campaign showcasing Heidelberg’s expertise in Prinect integration and color management in a cross-platform environment.

Prinect workflow technology will drive color management and all other integrated functions from a bank of workstations located in the center of the booth. Prinect brings “HEI Flexibility” to every phase of print manufacturing by routing jobs quickly and efficiently to production equipment for optimized throughput and higher profitability.

Flexibility A Key Asset
With shorter run lengths, web-to-print procurement, and on-demand-type delivery pushing the capabilities of older, nonautomated equipment to the limit, commercial printers need flexible equipment that will enable them to adapt to a changing business environment. Case in point: Heidelberg’s revolutionary Anicolor short inking technology, which cuts makeready time by up to 40 percent, waste by up to 90 percent, and increases press capacity by 25 percent or more—all while producing 100 percent offset-quality work.

Built on the proven Speedmaster SM 52 platform, the SM 52 Anicolor delivers consistent volumes of ink precisely across the sheet without ink keys. Used in conjunction with the Alcolor dampening system, printers can achieve a consistent ink/water balance in seconds, a design feature unique to the Speedmaster SM 52, which also uses conventional printing plates. The upshot? Printers can complete more jobs each day at lower costs, making Anicolor profitable at run lengths as short as 250 sheets.

With an installed base of more than 50,000 74 units, the versatile Speedmaster SM 74 is a staple of Heidelberg’s sheetfed repertoire. The 5-color-plus-aqueous model being shown at GRAPH EXPO is a beneficiary of more than a decade’s worth of technological improvements, including the 2009 InterTech Technology Award-winning Prinect Press Center with Intellistart process-oriented operating platform, integrated Wallscreen information center, as well as Axis Control closed-loop color measurement and quality assurance system for makereadies as low as 25 sheets.